Tankhun Jitt-itsara has become the first Democrat Party candidate to win an MP election in Don Muang district in nearly four decades.
Democrat Party candidate Tankhun Jitt-itsara celebrates his victory with his supporters at the party’s office in Don Muang after unofficial results show he beat Pheu Thai’s candidate Yuranunt Pamornmontri in yesterday’s byelection.
The opposition's victory deals a serious blow to the ruling Pheu Thai Party, with a political scientist predicting it could hasten the dissolution of the House as the government is losing popularity.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a political scientist at Sripatum University, said Mr Tankhun won because he had worked hard for locals in Don Muang despite losing the previous election there to former Pheu Thai MP Karun Hosakul.
Mr Yuranunt is consoled by his supporters after he made an announcement accepting his defeat. Photos by Thiti Wannamontha and Apichit Jinakul
Mr Tankhun had lost to Mr Karun by only 7,000 votes.
The by-election in Don Muang was called after Mr Karun was suspended from politics for five years for defaming Mr Tankhun.
The Democrat Sunday won 32,710 votes while Pheu Thai candidate Yuranunt Pamornmontri obtained 30,624 votes. In the poll, 66,373 of 108,495 eligible voters in Don Muang exercised their voting rights, a turnout of 61.18%. There were 64,455 valid ballots and 657 invalid ballots cast, with 1,261 voters marking the no-vote box.
It is the Democrat Party's first MP election victory in Don Muang in 37 years.
Mr Somchai said Mr Yuranunt's resignation as a list MP to run in the by-election may have turned off neutral voters.
He said although the Pheu Thai Party had a strong voter base in Don Muang, middle-class people in Bangkok were upset with the failure of the government's rice-pledging scheme and its attempts to push for an amnesty law and constitutional amendments.
The political scientist thinks these factors are eroding the popularity of the ruling party.
Mr Somchai said Pheu Thai lost face in the by-election because it threw its full weight behind its candidate and still did not emerge as the victor.
Mr Karun had ordered Don Muang district councillors to fully back Mr Yuranunt, while Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, who has the strongest voter base in Bangkok for Pheu Thai, also helped the candidate campaign for votes.
Mr Somchai expects the Pheu Thai Party to dissolve the Lower House in either September or October.
He predicted the government would choose to escape from the failure of its populist policies instead of waiting for its popularity to decline further.
The academic also said the Pheu Thai Party was aware it is difficult to push for an amnesty law in the present House session, and did not believe it is necessary for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return to Thailand soon.
"It is better to dissolve the House sooner than later. The Pheu Thai Party still retains a large advantage and it can dissolve the House without any hesitation," Mr Somchai said.
A Pheu Thai source says key party figures are worried by the by-election result. They are concerned the popularity of the party and the government is declining.
They think it is partly a result of criticism of the rice pledging scheme. The Democrat Party urged Don Muang voters to put its candidate in office to help the opposition scrutinise the work of the government. Pheu Thai members did their best in the Don Muang campaign and the party will tweak its strategies to boost its chances of winning the next election, the source said.
Suranand Vejjajiva, secretary-general to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, said the premier would not make any comment on the by-election result and would let the Pheu Thai Party react on the matter.
Democrat list MP Ong-art Klampaibul said Mr Tankhun had worked hard for Don Muang residents, especially during the severe flooding in 2011. He said the party would apply lessons learned from this by-election to campaign for votes in other constituencies that it did not represent.
Mr Tankhun thanked voters and promised to serve all people of Don Muang, including those who did not vote for him.